Monday, December 14, 2009

As one more assault on our sovereignty, Peter Van Loan has inked a deal that gives the U.S. Department of Homeland Security the same jurisdiction as our RCMP. They can move freely and arrest Canadian citizens, with little recourse.

The project is called "Shiprider" and was implemented with no Public debate. "On November 27, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson tabled legislation that would transform designated U.S. police and security agents into peace officers equal to the RCMP "in every part of Canada"

The pilot project began in March 2008, but has now been made permanent. A background:

The Department of Public Safety is reporting today that a joint RCMP-Homeland Security pilot project, which put U.S. security agents on Canadian maritime patrols and vice versa, will be made permanent. “During this most recent pilot project, which took place in the St. Lawrence Seaway near Cornwall and in the Strait of Georgia between British Columbia and Washington State, Shiprider officers boarded 187 vessels,” claimed the government press release. “In 39 separate incidents, Shiprider teams contributed to 41 arrests, with six of these being made directly by the integrated marine teams.”

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said: “The Shiprider pilot projects are an excellent example of our joint efforts to tackle cross-border crime. In keeping with this theme, it gives me great pleasure to announce today that our countries will begin negotiating a framework to govern the conduct of joint cross-border maritime law enforcement operations in shared waterways along the Canada-USA border.” ....